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The four pillars of your book: 3. Your readers

Your book rests on four pillars: your expertise, your purpose in writing it, your audience, and your passion. Each of these pillars, as it takes its turn in the spotlight, can be seen as the single most important thing on which everything else depends, so right now, your readers are everything. In identifying your purpose, you may have said that your book’s role in the business is to raise your profile for speaking gigs, or as a freebie in return for sign-ups, or to earn passive income… but without readers, it has no purpose.

This is where we stop thinking about ourselves. Writing a book isn’t arrogant or selfish. Writing is an act of generosity: who are you helping? Who do you want to help?

The other three pillars will inform this decision. The range of your expertise will show you which swathes of people you could help. Your purpose will narrow that down more precisely. Your passion and values will direct your choice. Your readers are who it’s all for.

If you want help getting your book’s pillars in place, the Find Your Book pack is packed with quick, focused exercises to make sure your book has its four pillars in place from the start. To get a free copy, email me at megan@thoughtleaderbooks.co.uk with a few details about your area of expertise. And for more on thinking about your readers, read these posts.